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Published on: November 11, 2017
The gain and loss of plasticity during development and evolution
Amber Q Rock1, Mansi Srivastava1
1Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
Abstract:
Studies of embryonic plasticity, which were foundational for developmental biology, revealed variation across species and patterns of association with cleavage programs and adult regenerative capacity. Modern molecular and genetic tools now enable a reexamination of these classical experiments in diverse species and have the potential to reveal mechanisms that regulate plasticity over developmental time. This review synthesizes previous work on plasticity in embryos and adults and associated genetic mechanisms, providing a framework to organize data from a wide range of species. Mechanisms that explain how plasticity is lost in mammalian embryos are highlighted and crystallize a proposal for future studies in new research organisms that could identify shared principles for embryonic plasticity and, potentially, its maintenance into adulthood.
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